Scale To Win with Dominic Monkhouse

Monkhouse & Company
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Wide awake at 3am, wondering how your business turned from a 15-person rocket into an 80-person rollercoaster? Hit play. This show is for founder CEOs who want practical wins, not platitudes. Every fortnight, Dominic Monkhouse - who scaled two UK tech firms to £30m+ in five years (twice) - grills people who’ve actually done it: operators, battle-scarred founders, and experts who cut through noise. You’ll learn techniques that stop fires, speed up decisions, and give you time back. What you’ll get: field-tested methods that will all contribute to one of three vital goals – freeing up your time, building a leadership team that can lead without you, and installing systems that you can be sure will work. No recycled LinkedIn fluff. No crappy ‘inspiration’. Just clear actions you can run this week. Why listen now? Because growth shouldn’t mean chaos. Twelve of Dom’s clients have exited. His 2-Day-a-Week CEO Blueprint shows leaders how to make sure they spend their time doing things that ONLY they can do - not covering tasks that could be done by others. He coaches scale-ups, writes books people actually read, and asks the questions you wish investors would. If you’re stuck between “we’re onto something” and “this might kill me,” this is your edge: honest stories, hard numbers, and repeatable systems to build a business you’re proud of - without losing yourself along the way. Grab a notebook, and hit follow so the next time you’re staring at the ceiling at stupid o’clock, you’ve got a plan - and a playbook - waiting in your ears.

  1. 4D AGO

    From Broke at 48 to Yo! Sushi Founder, Here's What I Learned | E367

    We will soon trust AI more than people with their own agendas. In 50 years, we'll realise 50%+ tax was madness when 20% could have worked. Digital voting will let people vote on issues, not political parties, and we'll have an executive of 40 people (like Singapore) instead of 1,000 MPs arguing endlessly. And Brexit will be remembered as the best thing that happened—because this entrepreneurial little island will reinvent how to govern, and the rest of the world will copy us as they've done throughout history. Simon Woodroffe, founder of Yo! Sushi and YoTel, original Dragon on Dragons' Den, performer at Edinburgh Festival, recording artist with the Blockheads, and now published author of "Yo Man," has built businesses across multiple industries starting at age 45—and he's got radical ideas about politics, taxation, and why megalomaniac control at the beginning is the right way to start any business. In this episode from Thailand (where Simon now lives with his Thai wife after being brought up in old Singapore), he reveals how he started YoSushi after a Japanese TV producer said "conveyor belt sushi bar with girls in black PVC miniskirts," flew to Japan when it was expensive and difficult (Japan was the last great mystery of the East 30 years ago), found 2,500 conveyor belt sushi bars nobody in the UK knew about, and opened Poland Street with everything he had in the world—only to have nobody come for the first two weeks. Then the second Saturday, there was a 100-yard queue down the block because they'd done something so completely different. He shares why he was nicknamed "the steamroller," why megalomaniac control is perfect at the beginning but you must let go after three years, how he hired Robin Rowland who closed all the Yo Below bars much to Simon's chagrin (but was absolutely right), and why he's earned roughly 1% of YoTel turnover every quarter for years—which has funded everything since and probably saved him from going broke. Book recommendations: How to Get Rich - Felix Dennis - https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Get-Rich-Felix-Dennis/dp/0091927447 Yo Man - Simon Woodroffe - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yo-Man-Simon-Woodroffe/dp/1398616761 About the Guest: Simon Woodroffe is the founder of YoSushi (celebrating 30 years in January) and YoTel (now over 30 hotels worldwide, much bigger business than YoSushi), original Dragon on Dragons' Den (series 1-3), performer at Edinburgh Festival where he did a one-man show, recording artist with the Blockheads, and published author of "Yo Man" (his second book—the first was his autobiography). He's done a few things. He's 77 years old, was brought up in old Singapore, has lived all over the world, and now lives in Thailand with his Thai wife. His home base is Thailand because it's the best place he's found after searching everywhere. Simon started YoSushi at age 45 after a long, hard life that hasn't always been good. He's now a licensor of both YoSushi and YoTel, broadcasting on social media, and trying to give something back to the world to improve it—whether politically or directly helping one person at a time. He always said that when he was knocking on other people's doors, if he was ever the one whose door was knocked on (which is the situation he finds himself in now), he would always try to respond to everybody. And he does. Connect with Simon Woodroffe - https://www.linkedin.com/in/yosimonwoodroffe/ -------- Sign up to receive our weekly Curious Leadership newsletter: https://subscribe.monkhouseandcompany.com Follow Dominic on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/dominicmonkhouse Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:01 Introduction to Simon Woodroffe's journey and achievements 02:37 Simon on world improvements and his life in Thailand 03:47 Predictions on digital voting and government change 06:37 A small executive model for better governance 10:00 Reducing taxes by changing government spending 12:00 Trusting AI over human biases for balanced insights 14:06 Launch of Simon's book, Yo Man, and the ATM story 16:57 Bringing conveyor belt sushi to London 20:05 Transition from steamroller to delegator in business 21:36 Successful expansion under Robin Rowland's leadership 24:10 Involvement in Yotel and its global success 28:59 Importance of theatre and 'ziz' in business branding 30:07 Letting go of control for business growth 31:28 Transition to TV and participation in Dragon's Den 35:14 Enjoying Dragon's Den and investments made 38:08 Overcoming challenges during Yo Sushi's opening weeks 42:29 Creative 'yo' brand extensions and their impacts 45:01 Making tough business decisions swiftly and confidently

    49 min

  2. MAY 7

    Former Hostage Negotiator Reveals Business Secrets & Negotiation Tactics | E366

    Conflict is not a dirty word. You don't need a trigger warning; you need to know the trigger better. Don't rush to solve the problem. And when you're negotiating, remember it's not about you. Scott Walker is a kidnap-for-ransom and extortion negotiator who's spent 20 years with a ringside seat into what makes human beings think, feel, and act—particularly in times of stress, overwhelm, challenge, and conflict. Over 300 cases across every major continent, and touch wood, every single person came back. That's a 100% success rate in an industry where the average is 93% (better than the All Blacks' win rate), and all those lessons apply directly to everyday business and life. In this episode, Scott reveals why 80% of his time on a kidnapping case was spent dealing with the crisis within the crisis (internal politics, egos, competing demands, silo thinking—not the kidnappers), why the conflict call with bad guys is essential (managing expectations when they want £10M but you're offering £250K), and the immediate action drill he learned after threatening grieving parents in his first case. He shares why most leaders spend their time dealing with internal politics rather than customers, why feeling seen-heard-understood is the only thing people want in a negotiation, and why resilience isn't something you hashtag on a mug—it only comes from doing hard things and being uncomfortable. Plus: how he went from Scotland Yard detective inspector avoiding paper cuts to three live kidnaps in his first week in the private sector, and why the All Blacks' motto "don't be a dick" is actually brilliant negotiation advice. What you'll learn: ⚔️ Why conflict is essential (embrace difficult conversations without being belligerent) 🎯 The empathy loop: demonstrate understanding first, it's not about you ⏸️ The immediate action drill: interrupt pattern, ride the 90-second cortisol wave, ask better questions 🧠 Why you don't need trigger warnings (develop skills to handle anything, don't control others) 🚫 Why rushing to solve problems is dangerous (buy time, find the real issue) 👂 How to listen at level five (not for gist or to argue, but for what's really being said) 💡 Why 60% of sales don't close (people think it's too risky for them personally, not the company) 📊 The crisis within the crisis (80% of time spent on internal politics, not the bad guys) Book recommendations: Legacy - James Kerr - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Legacy-All-Blacks-James-Kerr/dp/1472103536 Awaken the Giant Within - Tony Robbins - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Awaken-Giant-Within-Immediate-Emotional/dp/0671791540 How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie - https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/0091906814 About the Guest: Scott Walker is a kidnap-for-ransom and extortion negotiator who's spent the best part of 20 years having a ringside seat into what makes human beings think, feel, and act—particularly in times of stress, overwhelm, challenge, and conflict. Over 300-plus cases (including piracy and extortion) across every major continent, and touch wood, every single person came back. That's a 100% personal success rate in an industry where the global average over 50 years is 93%—better than the All Blacks' win rate at roughly 90%, and vastly better than most salespeople's 30% close rate. Connect with Scott Walker - https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottaw/ -------- Sign up to receive our weekly Curious Leadership newsletter: https://subscribe.monkhouseandcompany.com Follow Dominic on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/dominicmonkhouse Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to negotiation and life skills 03:09 Personal anecdotes about family and negotiation 14:08 Aligning with clients to uncover real issues 21:11 Developing resilience and managing emotions 25:37 Techniques for emotional control and effective questioning 29:12 Journey from the police to a negotiation career 36:54 Handling difficult workplace conversations 40:25 Book recommendations and learning influence skills 44:44 Final thoughts and closing remarks

    46 min

  3. APR 23

    How to Spot Leaders Who Will Scale (Look for This, Not Confidence) | E365

    Failure is a better business school than an MBA. Most agencies will never scale because their founder is the product. Minority investment beats full acquisition. And self-doubt isn't a weakness to overcome—it's the edge that separates high performers from those who are growing. Luke Tobin, entrepreneur, investor, and founder of Unusual Group, has built and sold three companies in three different industries over 20 years (the largest being Digital Ethos with an eight-figure exit in late 2022), and he's learned that the people we look up to the most—the ones who seem to have it all figured out—are often the ones who struggle with doubt the most. The difference? They find a way to move anyway. In this episode, he reveals why imposter syndrome appears when you're stepping outside your comfort zone (which means you're doing something productive), why he's writing a book about doubt after interviewing 30 high performers from ex-SBS commandos to actors, and why doubt is actually the cost of admission to the next level. He also shares hard lessons from scaling to 90 people before his exit, hiring 5-6 people per month without proper vetting, and making the mistake of being the eye of the storm instead of creating mini-storms with good people. What you'll learn: 🧠 Why self-doubt is the cost of admission to the next level (imposter syndrome = you're expanding, not retracting) 📚 Why failure beats an MBA (founders with scars are shrewder, better, wiser) 🎯 Why most agencies never scale (founder is the product, won't delegate, sits at eye of storm) 👥 How to transition from basketball (50 people, you're on court) to football (100 people, you're off field) 💰 Why minority investment beats majority acquisition (founders lose motivation after 60-70% exit) 📊 The hiring mistake: loyalty vs capability (promoting based on tenure, not experience) ✅ Unique hiring practice: pay candidates for full week in business before offer (non-negotiable for mid-tier+) 🏢 Why remote work is dangerous for junior people (no water cooler conversations, no training) Book recommendations: Never Split the Difference - Chris Voss - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Never-Split-Difference-Negotiating-Depended/dp/1847941494 The Psychology of Money - Morgan Housel - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Psychology-Money-Timeless-lessons-happiness/dp/0857197681 The Obstacle is the Way - Ryan Holiday - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Obstacle-Way-Ancient-Adversity-Advantage/dp/1781251492 About the Guest: Luke Tobin is an entrepreneur, investor, and founder of Unusual Group, a holding company investing in marketing and creative service businesses to help them scale without losing control. He's been building companies for over 20 years with three successful exits in three different industries, each one bigger than the last. The largest was Digital Ethos, a performance marketing agency he sold in late 2022 after scaling to 90 people with an eight-figure exit. He's also a partner in a venture studio in San Diego rolling out consumer goods products, and he has 800,000 followers on social media where he shares success psychology week to week. Sign up to receive our weekly Curious Leadership newsletter: https://subscribe.monkhouseandcompany.com Follow Dominic on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/dominicmonkhouse Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:00 Luke's business background 03:14 Debunking common entrepreneurial myths 09:15 Perceptions shaping our reality and decisions 15:43 Biggest business failures and lessons learned 19:46 Preventing businesses from getting stuck due to founder focus 28:32 Transitioning from founder to CEO roles 30:07 Balancing remote and in-office work environments 35:58 Cultivating leadership and curiosity for business growth 40:19 Recommended books for personal and professional development

    44 min

  4. APR 9

    Most People Overcomplicate Leadership (Here's What Actually Works) | E364

    Most people overcomplicate leadership. They're looking for the next framework, trying to do technical leadership that just doesn't work. Paul Adamson spent 25 years sailing yachts around the world—including two years circumnavigating with Eddie Jordan on an Oyster 885—and he learned that leadership isn't about theory. It's about making decisions without all the information, leading from the front, and remaining calm when the pressure is on. Then he walked into Oyster Yachts (the manufacturer of those luxury yachts) when it went into administration, won it out of admin by deliberately breaking the rules, and rebuilt it from zero to a £200M order book with 700 employees in four years. In this episode, Paul reveals why great leaders are energy-rich (not uninspiring boring managers), why you can't KPI great leadership, and why the three levers of state management—focus, inner dialogue, and movement—underpin everything in business. He shares his Virgin Atlantic story about blagging a gold card, getting upgraded to upper class by a flight manager who knew when to break the rules, and how copying Richard Branson into an Instagram post led to a phone call that changed everything. He also opens up about being diagnosed with lymphoma two weeks after leaving Oyster, how he applied everything he'd taught for years to his own health challenge, and why that gift led him to help raise £3M for follicular lymphoma research that could unlock cures for pancreatic cancer, leukaemia, and other incurables. What you'll learn: ⚡ Why great leaders are energy-rich and how to manage your state (focus, inner dialogue, movement) 🎯 The difference between managers (follow rules) and leaders (know when to break them) 🚢 How to lead without all the information (lessons from sailing in high-stakes environments) 💼 How to rebuild a business from administration to £200M order book (earn trust, two words) 🇬🇧 Why UK social conditioning makes it hard to be energy-rich vs American optimism 📊 Why you can't KPI great leadership—it's about being a lighthouse, not hitting metrics 💪 How to find the gift in every challenge (even lymphoma diagnosis) 🎤 Why copying Richard Branson into an Instagram post was the right move Book recommendations: Man's Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl/dp/1846041244 Who Moved My Cheese? - Spencer Johnson - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Who-Moved-My-Cheese-Amazing/dp/0091816971 Shine: How to Navigate Life's Curveballs - Paul Adamson (forthcoming) About the Guest: Paul Adamson is a leadership and teamwork speaker who spent 25 years as a professional yacht skipper sailing luxury yachts around the world before transitioning into the business world about 15 years ago. His leadership development wasn't theoretical—it was forged at sea where you learn to lead from the front pretty quickly because in high-stakes environments, if you're not leading, you get into issues fast. Leadership at sea means making decisions without perfect information, remaining calm under pressure, and managing your emotional state when lives depend on it. Connect with Paul Adamson - https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-adamson -------- Sign up to receive our weekly Curious Leadership newsletter: https://subscribe.monkhouseandcompany.com Follow Dominic on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/dominicmonkhouse Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:03 Transition from yacht skipper to business leadership 07:45 Managing leadership styles through challenging transitions 15:05 Utilising energy richness and state management 19:00 Emphasising focus, inner dialogue and movement 23:00 The importance of rule-breaking for leadership success 27:00 Virgin Atlantic story – making customers raving fans 34:45 Rebuilding Oyster Yachts from administration to success 39:20 Strategic mindset: Earning trust to build a business 43:00 Achievements and challenges at Oyster Yachts 52:00 Transition from Oyster and personal health challenges 56:30 Navigating a lymphoma diagnosis with a leadership mindset 1:05:30 Paul’s book recommendations and personal insights on leadership

    1h 10m

  5. MAR 26

    The 80/20 Deal Structure: Why I Never Buy Businesses Outright | E363

    Council estate South London to 30 mergers and acquisitions. No capital, no plan, but always knew wealth was what he wanted. Lee Smith went from DJ to jewellers to law firms to web design and IT—then discovered mergers and acquisitions in 2014 and everything changed. Now he's building two sector groups to £10M in profit, buying businesses at 3-4x multiples and exiting at 7-10x, and he's got some contrarian views that'll make you rethink everything about UK business ownership. In this episode, Lee reveals why buying 100% of a business is almost always the worst deal structure, why you don't need to understand what a business does to own it successfully, and why by the end of this decade the most valuable asset in Britain will be an SME producing profits. He shares his ethical partnership structure that keeps founders and directors aligned, explains how he bought an HVAC company he barely understands and grew it while only being there one day per week, and why he thinks the UK government is waging war on business owners—making it harder to employ people, easier for rogue employees to sue, and creating a clear choice by 2030: own a business with options and spare cash, or be an employee struggling more than ever. What you'll learn: 🏢 Why you don't need to understand a business to own it (just need right people in right seats) 💰 How to structure deals that keep founders and key directors aligned (20% founder retention + director equity) 📊 What to look for when buying: £2M+ revenue, second-tier management in place, profitability doesn't matter 🎯 The buy-build-sell playbook: buy at 3-4x EBITDA, build to £10M+ profit, exit at 7-10x ⚠️ Why the UK government is anti-business (more taxes, more regulation, easier to sue companies) Book recommendations: Who? - Geoff Smart & Randy Street - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Who-Method-Hiring-Geoff-Smart/dp/0345504194 Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Think-Grow-Rich-Napoleon-Hill/dp/9388423526 Die with Zero - Bill Perkins - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Die-Zero-Getting-Your-Money/dp/0358099765 The Fourth Turning - William Strauss & Neil Howe - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fourth-Turning-American-Prophecy-Rendezvous/dp/0767900464 About the Guest: Lee Smith grew up on a council estate in South London with no capital behind him and no plan to wealth—but he always knew wealth was something he wanted to achieve. His career path was unconventional: DJ, jewellers, law firms, then starting his own web design and IT company. In 2014, he discovered mergers and acquisitions, which "completely flipped the switch" in his life. He's now completed 30 M&A transactions and is building two separate sector groups (HVAC/construction and renewable energy) to £10M in profit. His key message to business owners: the UK government is waging war on individuals through cost-of-living, energy costs, and employment regulations. By 2030, there will be a clear choice—either own a business and have options and spare cash, or be an employee struggling even more than now. His ideal scenario: buy more businesses, make all employees shareholders through EMI schemes, so when they exit, everyone gets a payday that gets them onto the wealth ladder. Connect with Lee Smith - https://www.linkedin.com/in/leeantonysmith/ -------- Sign up to receive our weekly Scale To Win newsletter: https://subscribe.monkhouseandcompany.com Follow Dominic on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/dominicmonkhouse Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 02:03 Views on UK government's impact on business 06:58 Why Lee chose to buy into HVAC sector 08:44 Structuring deals with existing management in mind 12:28 Challenges small businesses face in scaling and compliance 14:36 Critique of UK government’s business policies 20:02 Advice for first-time business buyers 25:11 Offering employee share schemes to improve engagement 31:27 Reflection on challenges like contracting with tier one customers 35:27 Recommended books that influenced Lee’s outlook 37:46 The Fourth Turning's impact on Lee's family planning

    41 min

  6. MAR 12

    Think Big, Get Big: The Goal-Setting Strategy That Changes Everything | E362

    Work-life balance is a complete myth for founders and CEOs. The experience myth keeps people pigeonholed. Goals should force your identity change, not the other way around. Eric Partaker—McKinsey consultant turned Skype early team member turned restaurant chain founder turned CEO coach with 1.2M LinkedIn followers—breaks down why everything you've been told about building a successful career and company is backwards. In this episode, Eric shares why he went from world's worst procrastinator (bought books in 2000, didn't read them until 2010) to super producer, why he lost everything when his restaurant chain went up in smoke during COVID, and why that experience made him a better coach. He also unpacks the cultural differences between US optimism, UK scepticism, and Norwegian Janteloven (the law that says "you shall not think you are anything"), and why the Vikings' entrepreneurial spirit somehow disappeared from modern Norway. What you'll learn: ⚖️ Why work-life balance is a myth—it's really about work-life satisfaction 🎯 Why going for 10X goals forces identity change (not choosing identity first) 🌍 How cultural attitudes toward ambition differ: US vs UK vs Norway 📈 Why 10X is easier than 10%—and how it fundamentally changes thinking 🏅 Why we don't question Olympic athletes chasing gold medals but judge business people 💼 Why star performers deliver 800% more output than average in complex roles Book recommendations: The Now Habit - Neil Fiore - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Now-Habit-Overcoming-Procrastination-Guilt-Free/dp/1585425524 The Five Dysfunctions of a Team - Patrick Lencioni - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-Lencioni/dp/0787960756 Built to Last - Jim Collins & Jerry Porras - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Built-Last-Successful-Visionary-Essentials/dp/0060516402 About the Guest: Eric Partaker is a CEO coach, mentor, and peak performance expert who built a 1.2M+ following on LinkedIn over the last couple of years despite being 50 years old and "not a social media person" three years ago. His career has been a chain of massive pivots: started as a consultant at McKinsey, joined the early team at Skype (back when people actually used Skype before Riverside), helped with the blitz-scaling that led to a $2-3 billion exit to eBay about 21 years ago, then did a complete pivot to build a Mexican restaurant chain called Chilango. He went from being the world's worst procrastinator (so bad he bought books on overcoming procrastination in 2000 and didn't read them until 2010) to a super producer after reading The Now Habit by Neil Fiore. He credits Five Dysfunctions of a Team for helping him optimise leadership teams (particularly around avoidance of conflict and artificial harmony) and Built to Last for optimising company performance. His current mission: helping founders and CEOs stop pursuing the myth of balance, go for 10X goals that force identity change, and just have the courage to do whatever that critical thing is they're avoiding right now. -------- Sign up to receive our weekly Scale To Win newsletter: https://subscribe.monkhouseandcompany.com Follow Dominic on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/dominicmonkhouse Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:00 Eric's diverse career journey and background 06:02 10x goals and their impact on mindset 09:45 Cultural influences on ambition and success 12:35 Work-life balance vs. work-life satisfaction 18:01 Fascination with achievement and peak performance 22:38 Transition from McKinsey to creating a restaurant chain 28:03 Reflecting on debt and expansion mistakes 33:30 Building leadership teams and hiring strategies 38:43 Importance of reallocating resources and hiring stars 40:42 Understanding and addressing business constraints 42:28 Books that transformed Eric's personal and professional growth

    48 min

  7. FEB 26

    Why Hiring for Skills Is Dead (Look for This Instead) | Alex Cooper | E361

    Formal education is becoming irrelevant. The UK is a great place to build a business. These aren't platitudes—they're battle-tested beliefs from someone who spent 20 years in the military, led the UK's COVID testing programme, and is now co-founding Electric Twin with Ben Warner (the PM's former chief data advisor) to build synthetic audiences that let businesses test decisions in seconds rather than weeks. In this episode, Alex Cooper breaks down why the most memorable periods of your life will be the ones where you had zero balance, why you should hire polymaths with agility and hunger rather than certificates in AI, and how his company uses generative AI to simulate human decision-making with startling accuracy. He also shares lessons from scaling from 0 to 17 people, why founder-led sales matters even when you've never done it before, and why he'd rather die at 93 still working every day than retire to garden. What you'll learn: 🎓 Why formal education and skills-based qualifications are becoming increasingly irrelevant 🇬🇧 Why London is an underrated place to build a tech business (despite the moaning) ⚖️ Why balance is bullshit—and why your deathbed memories will be from the unbalanced times 🤖 How synthetic audiences let you test business decisions in seconds with real-world accuracy 🚀 Why the OODA loop (Observe, Orientate, Decide, Act) gives decisive competitive advantage 💼 Why founder-led sales is essential even when you've never done sales before Book recommendations: The Box - Marc Levinson - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Box-Shipping-Container-Smaller-Economy/dp/0691170819 My War Gone By, I Miss It So - Anthony Lloyd - https://www.amazon.co.uk/War-Gone-Miss-Anthony-Loyd/dp/0140298541 Bad Blood - John Carreyrou - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bad-Blood-Secrets-Silicon-Startup/dp/1509868054 About the Guest: It was during COVID that Alex met his co-founder Ben Warner, who was the Prime Minister's chief advisor for data and digital. They became friends, and a couple of years after the pandemic, Ben suggested they set up a business together. At the time, Ben had been experimenting with early AI models to try to simulate human decision-making, but the models weren't good enough. With the advent of generative AI, it became possible—and Electric Twin was born. The company combines high-quality seed data, builds out synthetic populations of agents, and uses complex processes powered by commercial LLMs (they don't have their own model) to generate results that match real-world responses. They've run 40,000 evaluations to date. Electric Twin now has 17 people and works primarily with enterprise clients like News UK (The Times), helping them make decisions about everything from podcast positioning to content strategy to product launches—all in seconds rather than the weeks traditional market research would take. They brought in a head of sales from MongoDB last year who implemented the MEDIC framework with discipline, focusing on setting up long-term relationships rather than rushing to close deals. The company has raised funding, is targeting the US market, and Alex is adamant about maintaining talent density as they scale from 17 to 50 people through what he calls "quite a difficult phase." Alex is unapologetically elitist—he loves being around super smart people who are the best at their job, which is all he's known for 20 years. He's nearly 50, has no retirement plans, and would rather be like his mentor who came into the House of Lords every day at 93 because "otherwise my brain would rot." He reads voraciously and eclectically (five books on piracy while surfing in Mexico, four books on shipping containers), spends weekends in South Wales mending fences and making cider to physically dislocate from the AI world, and firmly believes the periods of his life he'll remember on his deathbed are the ones where he had no balance whatsoever. Sign up to receive our weekly Scale To Win newsletter: https://subscribe.monkhouseandcompany.com Follow Dominic on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/dominicmonkhouse Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:00 Formal education vs lifelong learning in the AI era 04:02 Why balance is overrated and intense focus matters 09:00 From army officer to founder of an AI startup 13:54 Building human behaviour simulations with synthetic audiences 17:17 How generative AI powers accurate real-time decision testing 21:12 COVID, consumer behaviour, and why experts often get it wrong 28:08 Why London is still a top place to start a business 33:18 Lessons from 20 years in the military 37:28 Scaling culture from 17 to 50 employees 42:15 Learning B2B sales and the power of founder-led GTM 47:58 Charisma, fraud, and lessons from Bad Blood and Theranos

    46 min
  8. Founder Bottlenecks, Leadership Lessons, & Scaling Without Chaos | E360

    FEB 10

    Founder Bottlenecks, Leadership Lessons, & Scaling Without Chaos | E360

    Market research used to take four weeks and cost $20,000. Steve Phillips built Zappi to turn that into four hours and $2,000—and he started 12 years ago, long before generative AI made this vision sound obvious. Now, with nearly 300 people and $80 million in revenue, he's challenging his organisation to double revenues in five years without adding headcount by pairing every employee with an AI agent to handle the annoying, time-consuming work. In this episode, Steve breaks down why entrepreneurs can actually be lazy (in the right way), why you should never hire yourself, why innovation is a mindset rather than an age, and how going from 40 to 140 people in six months was utterly disastrous but created an amazing culture that propelled the business for years. He also shares why he stepped aside as CEO, how he maintains his role as Chief Innovation Officer, and why the future is already here—we're just not utilising AI to do amazing things in business yet. What you'll learn: 💡 Why entrepreneurs can be lazy—and why doing "work" might be the wrong thing 🚫 Why you should hire for your weaknesses, not people who are just like you 🧠 Why innovation is a mindset at 56, not just for 23-year-olds in garages 🤖 How to pair every employee with an AI agent to automate administrative tasks 📈 Why going from 40 to 140 people in six months crashed productivity for a year ⚙️ How to challenge your organisation to double revenue without increasing headcount Podcast recommendations: A16Z (Andreessen Horowitz) - https://a16z.com/podcasts/ Hard Fork - New York Times / Platformer - https://www.nytimes.com/column/hard-fork All In Podcast - https://www.allinpodcast.co/ About the Guest: Steve Phillips is the founder and Chief Innovation Officer (and Chair) at Zappi, a consumer insights platform he started 12 years ago with the founding ambition of turning market research projects that took four weeks and cost $20,000 into four hours and $2,000. Zappi was AI-first from the beginning—using old-fashioned "if that, then this" automation to speed up and democratize consumer insights long before generative AI became mainstream. After merging with a South African technology company early on, Steve scaled Zappi to nearly 300 people and approximately $80 million in revenue, still growing at around 15% annually with growth rates now increasing as they focus more on AI deliverables. The company has raised multiple rounds, brought in a PE firm about three years ago to mostly replace VCs, and subsequently added new senior leaders with different skill sets (like an MIT MBA CEO who thinks very differently than Steve). Zappi had one genuine pivot—moving from automating work for other research companies to building their own IP and data asset. Now they're using AI agents internally for everything from writing quarterly business reviews to creating client proposals, and externally helping clients use their data to generate new product ideas and advertising campaigns. Steve's challenge to the organisation: double revenues in five years without increasing headcount by pairing every employee with an AI agent to eliminate time-consuming administrative tasks. Sign up to receive our weekly Scale To Win newsletter: https://subscribe.monkhouseandcompany.com Follow Dominic on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/dominicmonkhouse

    46 min
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7 Ratings

About

Wide awake at 3am, wondering how your business turned from a 15-person rocket into an 80-person rollercoaster? Hit play. This show is for founder CEOs who want practical wins, not platitudes. Every fortnight, Dominic Monkhouse - who scaled two UK tech firms to £30m+ in five years (twice) - grills people who’ve actually done it: operators, battle-scarred founders, and experts who cut through noise. You’ll learn techniques that stop fires, speed up decisions, and give you time back. What you’ll get: field-tested methods that will all contribute to one of three vital goals – freeing up your time, building a leadership team that can lead without you, and installing systems that you can be sure will work. No recycled LinkedIn fluff. No crappy ‘inspiration’. Just clear actions you can run this week. Why listen now? Because growth shouldn’t mean chaos. Twelve of Dom’s clients have exited. His 2-Day-a-Week CEO Blueprint shows leaders how to make sure they spend their time doing things that ONLY they can do - not covering tasks that could be done by others. He coaches scale-ups, writes books people actually read, and asks the questions you wish investors would. If you’re stuck between “we’re onto something” and “this might kill me,” this is your edge: honest stories, hard numbers, and repeatable systems to build a business you’re proud of - without losing yourself along the way. Grab a notebook, and hit follow so the next time you’re staring at the ceiling at stupid o’clock, you’ve got a plan - and a playbook - waiting in your ears.

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